Rentals

One of the biggest roadblocks to the marimba becoming more mainstream is high cost with low availability. There are only a few places that have marimba rentals and often they are only willing to rent to students in the immediate area!

DFWMarimbas.com

Brian J. Harris rents many instruments in the Arizona area. He also has the most reasonable prices of any percussion rental places I’ve seen! “We offer small bell kits, Marimba Warehouse instruments, vibraphones, up to 4.3 octave marimbas. “

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Marimba warehouse offers small 3 octave practice marimbas with no resonators. These are best suited to very young players. They offer rentals in DallasandHouston Texas.

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“Marimba Rental LLC offers an array of marimbas to the Twin Cities region. We aim to make access to a marimba a simple and affordable process. Our website offers more details, but essentially we are long-time percussion educators with the goal of matching up students with the right instrument. There is no long-term contract with the obligation to buy an instrument that a student outgrew halfway through the rental agreement.”

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I found these guys through google and I’m unsure at this time what areas they are willing to serve.

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Absolutely Music Inc. Rents out Marimba One marimbas to the San Fransisco bay area.

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Is it better to rent or buy?

Depends on how long you plan on playing the marimba! If you only need one for the summer then renting isn’t a bad option, although it’s probably better to take lessons with a university professor who will give you access to their practice rooms! Then you get instruction and practice time.

If you are thinking more long term then consider this; Marimba rentals cost around 250-300 a month. At it’s lowest, that’s $3,000-3,600 a year. You’d proabably be better off buying a practice marimba, or if you want to perform publically, getting a loan to buy a high quality marimba.